


Universe Falls - Open Book

by FriendlyLocalGeek



Category: Gravity Falls, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, Drama, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Lost Episode, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:41:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26311315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FriendlyLocalGeek/pseuds/FriendlyLocalGeek
Summary: Created for Week 1 of the 5th anniversary celebration of Minijen's Universe Falls. Steven tries to help his friends Dipper and Connie find a more satisfying ending to their favorite book series, but he finds the hard way that trying to stage fan fiction in a magical holodeck isn't as easy as it sounds, especially when one is keeping secrets from his friends...
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe
Kudos: 14





	Universe Falls - Open Book

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Universe Falls](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4901857) by [MiniJen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiniJen/pseuds/MiniJen). 



If there was a bright side to being grounded from television (and Steven Universe could almost always find a bright side), it was having a chance to catch up on his reading. Steven had spent the last few days catching up on the Spirit Morph Saga, and while Mabel was hanging out at the mall with her friends Grenda and Candy, Dipper and Connie watched with tense anticipation as their mutual friend finished the final chapter of the final book, Destiny's End.

An awkward silence hung in the air like a soap bubble, and like a bubble it was suddenly broken by Connie asking “So... what did you think of the ending?”

“Uh, I thought it was on page 917?” Steven answered uncertainly.

“I thought it was a disaster!” said Connie.

“Uh...”

“I'm with Connie on this one,” interrupted Dipper, rising to his feet, “A complete disaster!”

“Well...”

“I know, right?” said Connie, getting up and pacing around the coffee table alongside Dipper. “All that work on playing around with fantasy tropes, and in the end none of that even mattered! Lisa and her talking falcon, rebels challenging the stifling traditions of the magical bureaucracy? I loved that. Then her falcon turns into a human and they get married?!”

“Uhm...”

“Ugh, I know!” said Dipper. “There was so much they could have followed up on! Who was the One-eyed Man, really? What was his grudge against Plinkman in the first place? What really caused the Great Rift? And what happened to Dame Sledgeworth and the Deep Rebellion? Instead, they dropped all those fascinating mysteries to resolve a clumsily-shoehorned romance subplot.”

“I guess...”

“That's the worst part!” cried Connie. “It completely dropped all the anti-authoritarian stuff and described a wedding cake for fifty pages!”

“Yeah, that cake was worthy of twenty pages, tops!” Steven chimed in, desperate to contribute something in support of his friends. “There weren't even strawberries on it.”

“The strawberries aren't the issue, Steven,” snapped Dipper, “it's the author not knowing what kind of story she wants to write!”

Connie tented her fingers conspiratorially. “I bet since the books got so popular,” she said, “the publisher put pressure on the author to water down the end for a larger audience appeal. Unlike art, the real world can't always win against the iron chains of authority!”

Steven fell into another uneasy silence as his friends sat down heavily on either side. “That's my theory, anyway,” said Connie with a weary sigh.

“Well, whatever happened,” said Dipper, “we loyal fans are left with _this_ mess.”

“It's just disappointing,” Connie said sadly, “considering I invested extra money in the had cover copies... with maps.” Taking the book from Steven's hands, she opened it to unfold a lavishly illustrated map of the fantastic world of the Spirit Morph Saga, a world that had abruptly lost some of its appeal.

Another sullen silence filled the room, and Steven suddenly became desperate to fill it with something that could raise his friends' spirits. “I wish I could give you guys a new ending...” he muttered, smiling faintly at Connie and Dipper. As Connie returned the smile, a bright pink light emerged from beneath Steven's shirt. Across the room, a second pink glow answered the one from Steven's Gem, and the door to the temple opened onto a void of vivid pink clouds.

“The temple door! It opened for me!” Steven jumped to his feet, as if he was being buoyed up by the burst of inspiration rushing through him. “I can make anything I want in there! I can make us a new ending!”

“What, like fan fiction? Or a fan film?” said Dipper, somewhat skeptical at first. “That... actually sounds like fun!” he added, quickly warming to the idea.

Connie was almost as eager as Steven was about the idea of crafting her own, better take on the ending of Destiny's End. “Yeah, what are we waiting for?” Taking Steven's hand, she rushed through the door, Dipper in hot pursuit.

For reasons of his own, Steven was glad to take his friends' minds off their negative reactions to the ending, even if only for a moment.

●●●

Soon the three youths were in the middle of a seemingly endless plain of soft pink clouds, which seemed to stretch all the way to a massively distant horizon.

“It's been a while since we've been in here...” said Connie.

“Hopefully this goes better than the last time,” Dipper said dryly. “You know, when we got attacked by a monster and the Gems almost burned the journal?”

Not wanting the good mood to vanish so quickly, Steven quickly interrupted. “W-well, as long as we stay in here we should be perfectly safe! So, where should we start? Remember, this room can make anything!”

“How about the Infinity Fair, from Book Four?” said Connie excitedly. “With merchants from a million lands, selling goods from cultures long gone and yet to be!”

“That... might be a bit much,” said Steven nervously. “We should start with something simple.”

“Yeah,” agreed Dipper, “This place can make a lot of crazy things, but even it must have its limits. And I've seen enough science fiction to know you don't want to test the limits of a holographic room that can do almost anything.”

Connie nodded thoughtfully, “Okay, how about half the Infinity Fair?” She frowned as she quickly realized the flaw in her request. “No, that's still infinity. Okay, well, what really matters are the characters. Steven, you should be Archimicarus!”

Steven nodded, and struck a pose as he declared “Okay! Room, I want to be a falcon!” In a puff of pink smoke, Steven appeared in a blue and grey falcon costume, the image of a falcon in flight hanging behind him. It quickly faded with a wave of Steven's hand as he remembered his own suggestion to keep things simple. “Sorry, was that a bit much?”

“Maybe just a teensy bit,” said Dipper, rolling his eyes.

“I thought it was amazing!” said Connie, clapping her hands together. “Okay, my turn. Room, I want to be Lisa!” she demanded, striking a heroic pose.

Only an awkward silence answered her request. “Do I need to be more specific?”, Connie asked sheepishly. “You were pretty general with the falcon thing.”

Dipper slapped his forehead as something suddenly occurred to him. “Wait, guys, don't you remember? The room only responds to Steven's commands. Which is gonna make it a little hard to get costumes for the two of us.”

Steven's face fell as Dipper reminded him that, as the bearer of Rose Quartz's gem, the room only responded to his requests. “Sorry guys,” he said meekly. “Maybe this won't work after all...”

Connie was quick to come up with a solution, one that immediately lifted her friend's spirit with its ingenious simplicity: “Why don't you just have it make a costume shop?”

“Oh yeah, good idea!” said Steven cheerfully. “I want a costume shop!”

With another, bigger burst of clouds, a tailor's shop appeared before the trio, with white stucco walls and a red tile roof, and the name “SEW & SEW TAILOR” hanging over the front door, which was covered by a sheet of red cloth.

“Looks a little old-fashioned,” said Dipper, ducking through the door. His skepticism was swiftly stifled as he caught sight of the interior. Whatever he saw in there seemed to impress him. “Woah, this place is HUGE! It's like three costume shops stuffed into one!”

“Really? This I've got to see!” said Connie excitedly, following Dipper through the door. The sight she saw confirmed Dipper's claims. “Wow, this place has everything, even Lisa's childhood tunic! Wait, you thought it was red?”

“Yeah,” said Steven, unsure of what his friend's objection was. “The color of the setting sun.”

“The sun sets _black_ over the mines, Steven,” admonished Connie playfully.

“Yeah, they went over that in chapter three of the first book,” said Dipper a bit more harshly. “Pay attention, man!” he added with a hasty chuckle. Dipper was the first to emerge from the shop, in a blue tunic and dark gray trousers hemmed with silver thread. He wore a black skullcap, a pair of thin-rimmed spectacles, and a well-oiled fake mustache, and carried a stout cane-sword with a knob in the shape of a spider.

Steven was quick to recognize his friend's costume, being dressed just as he'd pictured the character. “Wow, Dipper, you look just like Dr. Blackwood from book three! The familiar expert who helped nurse Archimicarus back to health!”

“Dr. Louis Charles Blackwood, at your service!” said Dipper in an exaggerated accent that wasn't sure if it was supposed to belong to an English or French gentleman. “How could I not love a character so bold, so brilliant, so sophisticated?” He attempted to twirl his cane in a dramatic fashion and nearly smacking himself in the face. “Ow...” he moaned, adjusting his mustache as it threatened to fall off, “Okay, not doing that again anytime soon.”

Steven stifled a laugh at Dipper's expense and called out to Connie. “So, have you decided what kind of Lisa you wanna be? Young Lisa from book one? Apprentice Lisa from book two? Full-fledged warrior-witch Lisa from book four?”

There was a thoughtful pause from inside the shop. “Well, if we're really reworking this thing, I'm gonna make the ultimate Lisa, with the best gear from every book! Like... what if she never lost her iron sword?”

“Woah! I appreciate your ambition, sister!” said Dipper.

“And the cloak and clasp are too signature not to do...”

“For sure!” said Steven, nodding eagerly in agreement.

“And I always liked the dragon-whisker boots from the volcano stuff in book three...”

“So much for 'keeping it simple'...” snarked Dipper.

“Are you almost done?” said Steven, eager to see what sort of costume Connie had assembled.

“Just wait a minute!” said Connie, somewhat nervously.

“Come out,” said Steven, more excited than ever. “I wanna see you!”

The figure that finally emerged from the costume shop was almost unrecognizable as Connie, dressed in a black tunic, pale blue arm wraps and leggings, long gray boots, and a flowing red cloak with a hood that covered her eye-patched face.

“Woah...” said Steven, awestruck. “You look awesome.”

“I'm with Steven,” said Dipper, fairly impressed. “That's a pretty cool outfit.”

“Thanks, guys!” said Connie, blushing faintly from all the complements.

“Okay, let's do this!” Steven suddenly shouted, leading his friends off to another part of the vast space within the room. Laughing loudly and excitedly, they quite failed to notice faint sounds of movement still coming from within the costume shop.

●●●

Steven eventually found a wide open space for the next part of their adventure in full-scale fan fiction.

“So,” said Steven, posing with Connie, “at the end of the series, Lisa and her falcon familiar, Archamicarus, are at the altar...” In a cloud of smoke, a white wooden canopy with lilac flowers growing from it appeared behind Steven and Connie. “With a cleric...” Another cloud of smoke added a vaguely priest-like older man holding a holy book with a golden star. “About to get married,” and this time the smoke enveloped Steven and Connie, leaving Steven in a bird-themed tuxedo and Connie in a white dress with matching eye-patch. “But we don't want that ending,” he hastily added, as the wedding trappings and apparel quickly disappeared.

“Definitely not,” said Dipper. “We need something a little more exciting, a little more dangerous, a little more mysterious...”

“Hmm,” Steven said. “I don't know... what do you think?” he asked Connie. She was part of the reason he was trying so hard to come up with a better ending.

Connie just smiled vacantly and asked Steven “Hmm, what do you think?”

Steven was caught off guard by his friend answering his question with another question. “Uh, well... how about a different proposal, Lisa... a business proposal!”

“Business, Steven?” said Dipper, arms crossed petulantly. “Not exactly exciting, dangerous, or mysterious...”

“Now wait a minute!” Steven said defensively. “Lisa and Archamicarus can, um... start a business together and sell... uh... sell turkey legs, to make money to help out our fellow rebel comrades!”

“Yeah, that's great!” said Connie, a little too enthusiastic for Dipper's tastes.

“So it's a front to fund the Deep Rebellion?” said Dipper, still an edge of skepticism in his voice. “Well, it's a start I guess...”

“Turkey legs it is!” said Steven, one appearing in his hand as a food cart appeared before him. Looking the cart over, Steven had only one addition to make. “I want an umbrella with that, if you would, Room.”

●●●

“Turkey legs! Get your rebel turkey legs!” cried Steven, pushing his food cart through the streets of an imaginary hamlet as the trappings and citizens of a fantasy town appeared and vanished around him and his friends as they strolled along. “You think it's okay for me to eat this if I'm a falcon?” he asked Connie, holding up a roasted turkey leg.

“You are a bird of prey,” she replied matter-of-factly.

“No offense, Steven,” groused Dipper as he followed a few paces behind the food cart, “But this isn't exactly the thrilling adventure I was hoping for. We could at least have an encounter with some kind of fantastic monster!”

“Good idea, Dipper!” Steven said cheerfully. “Let's um... feed the Wind Lizard!” A hulking green reptile with purple spots, vacant red eyes, and comically small wings suddenly appeared before the kids, with a roar that sounded like muffled yelling from the far end of a canyon. “Yeah! _This_ guy looks like a rebel,” said Steven, patting the beast on the head.

“Wow, from Book Four!” said Connie, oddly impressed by the creature's sudden appearance. Dipper, however, wasn't quite as impressed.

“I always pictured the Wind Lizard as being a _little_ more intimidating...” he said dryly. “But you did get the colors right, and that little scar on his right side. But doesn't he live in the mountains?”

“Yes,” explained Steven, “but he's just visiting because he heard about these turkey legs. Lisa, would you like to do the honors?”

Connie gladly took a turkey leg from Steven and tossed it into the waiting maw of the Wind Lizard, who noisily devoured the whole thing, bones and all, and let out a second, rather more delighted roar.

“Okay...” said Steven, “I guess our business is a success!”

“If you think so,” agreed Connie.

“Yeah, but I wouldn't call our _story_ a success!” snapped Dipper. “Connie, what happened to all that stuff about being more anti-authoritarian?”

“Well, I like Steven's ideas so far,” said Connie vacantly.

“No, Dipper's right...” sighed Steven, “This story is by all of us, and it needs more action and anti-authority stuff. So... we're stopped by the authorities?”

The Wind Lizard vanished, and in its place stood three knights in shining steel armor, bearing a scroll. “Because,” continued Steven, “We're selling without a permit! And we're not old enough to drive a cart!”

“But they're trumped-up charges, and the guards are actually in the pocket of the Merchant Masters!” interrupted Dipper, desperate to make things more exciting.

“Who?” asked Steven.

“You know, the shady guys from Book Three? The ones Lisa tricked into smuggling her and her friends into Overneath?”

“Oh, them!” said Steven, and a pair of stout, sneering men dressed in the gaudy garb of Renaissance merchants appeared behind the guards, chuckling to themselves as one of them slipped one of the guards a bulging coin-purse. “But these are, uh, free-range turkeys!” he continued with some hesitation, “And they didn't listen to anybody, and that's what we're gonna do! ...Right?” he asked of Connie.

“Whatever you think,” she replied cryptically, which earned a suspicious glare from Dipper.

“Really?” said Steven, perplexed. “All right. And then, I think they... don't like that, and they attack us!” With that, the guards drew fierce-looking axes and began advancing on the three would-be heroes.

“So it's a fight you want?” said Dipper in the most posh voice he could manage. “Then have at thee!” He drew his cane-sword and jumped into the fray, awkwardly parrying the blows of the knights' axes as they continued to advance.

“Yeah, you can't stop us!” shouted Steven in encouragement, throwing a turkey leg that bounced harmlessly off the center guard's helmet. As the guards drove Dipper back, the three kids hid behind the cart as their enemies tried to hack it to pieces.

“Jeez, these guys are corrupt!” said Steven.

“And tougher than they look!” said Dipper. “Connie, what'll we do?”

Again, Connie replied with a question. “What do you think we should do?”

“Seriously?” said Dipper, frustration rising in his voice. “All you've done is ask me and Steven what _we_ think we should do! Heck, you've mostly been asking Steven what _he_ wants! What the heck happened to being 'anti-authority' and 'feminist fantasy' and junk like that?”

“Y-yeah!” stuttered Steven, “I'm really trying here! How do you want this story to end?”

“How do _you_ want this story to end?” said Connie, seemingly oblivious to the boys' distress.

“I don't know!” moaned Steven, “I just wanted to do this for you guys.” He was starting to get worried about Connie's strange behavior as well; she was being oddly pliant, a far cry from the girl who had been going on about fighting authority and the patriarchy just an hour ago. “This isn't really like you... I... I don't want you to just do what _I_ want.”

Connie seemed started by Steven's sudden outburst. “Uh... you want me to _not_ d-do what you... want?” she stuttered, scooting away from Dipper and Steven.

“Uh, Connie?” said Dipper, his mood quickly shifting from frustration to concern.

“Are you all-” began Steven, but he was interrupted by Connie acting like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

“I want what _you_ want,” she cried, hands flying to her face. “What _you_ want- want- want- want-...”

Dipper made a strangled noise of shock as Connie continued to stutter to herself in monotone. “Gwah! What the heck's gotten into Connie? She's talking like a broken record!”

“Dipper...” said Steven in a low, dull voice that suddenly turned into a high, horrified one, “That's _not_ Connie!”

“What?! Then who...”

“Remember at the costume shop?” Steven began explaining in a hurry. “I told her to come out, but when I said 'I wanna see you', _this_ Connie came out! I... I created her!”

“Wait, so this is another of the room's holograms, or whatever?” said Dipper, staring at the now-uncanny alternate Connie who was still stuttering the word “want” over and over again. “Then we must've left the _real_ Connie back at the costume shop!”

“She could be anywhere...” said Steven with growing fear.

“Aw man... you say here, I'll go find her!” said Dipper, leaving Steven alone with his thoughts and the stuttering simulacrum in the shape of his first real friend. Seeing this pliant puppet who just nodded and agreed with his every idea was growing increasingly frustrating, for too many reasons to count.

“No, no, no, no, NO!” cried Steven. “I'm done, I'm _done_ playing!” The false Connie was finally silenced as Steven's Archimicarus costume vanished, followed by the food carts, the armed guards, the greedy merchants, and finally Cloud Connie herself. Steven was finally alone...

But not for long, as the swirling clouds suddenly reassembled themselves into the image of Connie. A fraudulent Connie who just blindly parroted others' ideas...

“Why didn't you disappear with everything else?!” cried Steven, breaking out in a cold sweat of fear.

“You told me not to do what you wanted...” said the Cloud Connie, her voice now low and menacing.

Steven let out a frustrated growl as he sank to his knees. “Where is Connie? Where's Dipper? Where are my _real_ friends?!”

Again there was a sullen silence, but this time it was distant, faint cries that broke through it.

“Dipper? Steven?!”

“Connie, is that you? Follow my voice, I know where Steven is!”

“Connie! Dipper!” Steven jumped to his feet and ran off, but his relief was short-lived as he found someone gripping his trailing hand, someone who was and yet wasn't the person he wanted to see.

“Please let me go!” he begged Cloud Connie, “I want to find the real Connie!”

“You told me you wanted-”

“That doesn't matter!” Steven shouted, running towards the sound of his friend's voices, the unwanted illusion in hot pursuit.

“Please don't follow me! I don't _want_ you to follow me!” cried Steven. In a moment of desperation, he cried out “Cart!” and summoned the illusion of the food cart from earlier, but Cloud Connie easily cleared it in a single bound.

Thinking fast, Steven shouted “Wind Lizard!”, and the winged monster suddenly appeared beneath his feet, letting him ride high into the sky. Cloud Connie was far too fast, grabbing hold of the Wind Lizard's tail and climbing aboard. Steven didn't notice her, as he was too busy scanning the horizon of the seemingly endless sea of clouds for signs of his friends. “Connie! Dipper! can you hear me?” he cried out.

“Steven? Steven?!” shouted Connie. “Dipper, I think I heard Steven's voice!”

“He's over this way!” Dipper replied, “Come on, you're not gonna _believe_ what happened!”

Relief washed over Steven's face. “Guys, I'm almost there! Just a bit further... AAAH!” He suddenly felt Cloud Connie's surprising weight dragging him off the Wind Lizard's back, her grimacing face in his as she growled threateningly.

“Please, I don't want this!” he begged, even knowing it was in vain as the automaton obeyed its contradictory orders of disobedience. “I want the _real_ Connie!” He tumbled hard as he hit the surprisingly-solid ground of the room, Cloud Connie floating down after him.

“I know what you _really_ want,” she sneered, and Steven's eyes widened with shock as she appeared before him, suddenly wearing the lavish wedding dress from earlier. “I know how you _really_ feel...”

“Steven?” A faint ray of hope came in the voice of the real Connie, emerging from the mists in an outfit not unlike her counterparts, but in shades of green and with a black cloak. “There you... are?” She was stunned speechless by the sight of an exact duplicate of herself, clad in a wedding dress, pinning Steven to the ground.

“Connie!” came Dipper's voice through the fog, following close behind. “Did you... _woah_!” he cried out, as the same sight met his eyes. He cringed slightly and stepped back as he added “Aaand this just got weird...”

Steven struggled to get free, only for the cloud doppelganger to pin his arms down. He let out a strangled cry of “Help!”, and the instant his friends processed the strange scenario before them, they answered that cry.

Connie reacted first, violently shoving her look-alike off of Steven with all the force she could muster. As Cloud Connie lunged at Steven, Connie shouted “Keep _away_ from him!” and stepped between them, bisecting her clone with a swing of her sword. She was shocked as Cloud Connie vanished before her, and equally shocked when she reappeared, seemingly unscathed, on the far side of the room.

“I know you like her...” Cloud Connie sneered, even as Dipper lashed out wildly with his blade, chopping her left arm off only for it to suddenly reform. She ignored him, marching towards Steven as she added “And you like him too. And I know you _want_ them to like you too...”

“No!” cried Steven, as he finally realized what Cloud Connie was trying to do, trying to get him to say... “Don't listen!”

“Listen to what?” said Dipper. “What the heck are you guys talking about?”

Connie turned to Steven as if she were about to echo Dipper's question, but as she sensed Cloud Connie drawing closer she lashed out with her sword, only for her impostor to vanish completely and reappear behind Steven, who was quickly pinned again.

“That's why you can't tell them the _truth_ !” shouted Cloud Connie, pinning Steven's head to the ground, even as he cried out in pain. “But you _want_ to! _You want to tell them!_ ”

“ _NO!_ ”

“Get off him!” shouted Connie, gripping her sword tightly, Dipper right behind, the both of them ready to cut down Connie's doppelganger as many times as it took to save Steven. But right now only one thing could stop the rogue replicant's rampage.

“Tell her, Steven...”

Only one thing could put an end to this madness, even if it meant the end of their friendship. “I...”

“TELL HER!”

“ _I liked the ending of the book!_ ”

Only the truth could set Steven free.

“What?” said Connie, stopping mid-charge.

“ _That's_ what this is all about?” said Dipper, stumbling to a stop, equally stunned.

“I... I thought it was sweet that Lisa and Archimicarus got together in the end!” shouted Steven. “They were always so thoughtful towards each other, and I was so happy when the found the spell to make him human, and I loved every page about the cake, I wanted to draw a picture of it!”

“Seriously?” said Dipper, incredulous.

“I... I'm sorry I pretended not to like it, I just... I just didn't want you to think less off me.”

This confession seemed to satisfy Cloud Connie, who released Steven from her grip. “That's better,” she said with a faint smile, before finally vanishing for good.

Steven looked up sadly at his friends as they approached.

“Do... do you think I'm a bad person for liking the ending?” he asked, completely sincere.

Dipper broke the tension by bursting out laughing. “Oh geez... you went through _all_ this, just because you thought we'd be mad you liked the ending?”

“Of course not,” said Connie in a more reassuring tone. “I... Steven, it's just a book!”

“But you really care about it!” argued Steven, surprised at his friends' level reaction. He knew Dipper could get heated about his opinions, and even Connie seemed passionate about her disappointment with the ending to the Spirit Morph Saga.

“I... _we_ care about you more,” said Connie, smiling faintly.

“Yeah man, we're not like _some_ crazy people who are ready to lose friends over the ending to a book, or a movie, or a TV show,” said Dipper. “And if I gave you that impression... well, I guess I owe you an apology. Sorry for getting so fired up earlier.”

“You mean it?” said Steven, “Even though I liked the wedding?”

Connie smiled, and said with a stifled chuckle “Oh, of _course_ you liked the wedding. You're Steven, you _love_ schmaltz!” She leaned down and gave Steven a hand up, which he gratefully took.

“Well, I'm glad we cleared the air over this whole thing,” Dipper snarked, “Now how about we get outta here? Seriously, I just saw one of my friends stab her evil clone or something...”

●●●

“I'm back!” shouted Mabel, a fresh supply of knitting supplies stuffed into a bag slung over one shoulder. She was greeted with the sight of the other Mystery Kids gathered together on the couch in a spirited, but friendly, debate.

“You make a good point,” Steven said to Connie, “but don't you remember how Archimicarus cried in Book Three?”

“I thought that was because they lost the sword!”

“No, she almost fell into the volcano! He was worried about her!”

“But didn't she have access to frost spells?” Dipper chimed in.

“Yeah, but Archimicarus didn't know that!”

“True, there wasn't really a chance for him to learn that... oh, hey Mabel!”

“What's up, gang?” asked Mabel as she dropped her bag on the coffee table. “Ooh, you guys having some kinda book club meeting?”

“Since when did you care about the Spirit Morph Saga?” queried Dipper, confused.

Mabel looked aside sheepishly. “Since, uh, I kinda skimmed Dipper's copy of book one, and Connie hooked me up with the other three...”

“Wait, what?”

“That's awesome!” said Steven, excited to have something in common with all his friends. “Have you read all the books yet? What'd you think of _Destiny's End_?”

“Oh, that wedding was _adorable_!” squealed Mabel. “I mean, they could have spent a little more time building up to it, but nobody's perfect. I'm just glad they didn't go for the corny love triangle aspect between Archimicarus, Lisa, and Charity...”

“Wait, Charity Blotts?” said Dipper. “Lisa's rival from Book Two? I thought they hated each other for most of Lisa's time in the Wizard Wilds...”

“It's called _subtext_ , Dipper...” Mabel said in a playfully reproachful tone.

“Isn't it amazing?” said Steven. “White witches, dark witches, even birds can fall in love!”

“I guess you could read it that way...” Connie said with a chuckle.

As the Mystery Kids bantered playfully about the Spirit Morph Saga, it raised Steven's spirits to see that it would take more than a simple disagreement over a fantasy novel to damage their friendship.

Perhaps he might even work up the nerve to show them his fan-art.


End file.
